Graceful degradation for voice communication services over wired and wireless networks

ABSTRACT

A communication device for gracefully extending the range and/or capacity of voice communication systems. The communication device includes a persistent storage device configured persistently store the voice media either generated when using the communication device or received over the network at the communication device. When the usable bit rate on the network is poor and below that necessary for conducting a live conversation, the communication device transmits voice media from persistent storage and stores received voice media in persistent storage at the available usable bit rate on the network. Although latency may be introduced during the back and forth transmissions of a conversation, the persistent storage of both transmitted and received media of a conversation provides the ability to extend the useful range of wireless networks beyond what is required for live conversations. In addition, the capacity and robustness in not being affected by external interferences for both wired and wireless communications is improved.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/089,417 filed Aug. 15, 2008, entitled“Graceful Degradation for Wireless Voice Communication Services,” andU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/999,619, filed on Oct. 19,2007, entitled “Telecommunication and Multimedia Management System andMethod.” This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/028,400, filed Feb. 8, 2008, entitled“Telecommunication and Multimedia Management Method and Apparatus.” Thisapplication is also a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/192,890, filed Aug. 15, 2008, entitled “Telecommunicationand Multimedia Management Method and Apparatus.” All of the foregoingapplications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety forall purposes.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to voice communication, and more particularly, tothe graceful degradation of voice communication services when networkconditions prevent live or real-time communication.

2. Description of Related Art

Current wireless voice communications, such as mobile phones or radios,support only live communications. For communication to take place withexisting wireless communication systems, a wireless network connectionwith a sufficient usable bit rate to support a live conversation mustexist between the two wireless devices in communication with each other.If such a connection does not exist, then no communication can takeplace.

When a person is engaged in a conversation using their mobile phone, forexample, a network connection between the phone and the local radiotransceiver (i.e., a cell tower) of sufficient usable bit rate tosupport a live conversation must exist before any communication can takeplace. As long the mobile phone is within the range of the radiotransceiver, the signal strength or usable bit rate is typically morethan adequate for conducting phone conversations.

As the person using the mobile phone travels away from the radiotransceiver, or they enter an area of poor coverage, such as in a tunnelor canyon, the usable bit rate or signal strength on the wirelessnetwork connection is typically reduced. If the distance becomes sogreat, or the reception so poor, the usable bit rate may be reducedbeyond the range where communication may take place. Beyond this range,the user may no longer be able to continue an ongoing call or make a newcall. Similarly, when too many users are conducting calls on the networkat the same time, the total aggregate usable bit rate for all the callsmay exceed the usable bit rate capacity of the radio transceiver. Insuch situations, certain calls may be dropped in an effort to preservethe usable bit rate or capacity for other calls. As the number of callson the network decreases, or usable bit rate conditions on the wirelessnetwork improve, dropped users may again rejoin the network and make newcalls as capacity on the network improves. In yet another example, insituations where there is severe radio interference, such as electricalor electromagnetic disturbances, intentional jamming of the wirelessnetwork, the antenna on a communication device or the radio transmitteris broken or not working properly, or the communication device and/orthe radio transceiver have been improperly configured, the usable bitrate on the network connection may be insufficient for users to makecalls or conduct live voice communications.

With current wireless voice communication systems, there is nopersistent storage of the voice media of conversations. When a personengages in a conversation using either mobile phones or radios, there isno storage of the voice media of the conversations other than possiblywhat is necessary for transmission and rendering. Without persistentstorage, the voice media of a conversation is irretrievably lost aftertransmission and rendering. There is no way to retrieve that voice mediasubsequent transmission or review. Consequently, wireless voicecommunication systems are reliant on network connections. If at anypoint the usable bit rate on the network is insufficient for a liveconversation, regardless of the reason, there can be no communication.Mobile phones and radios are essentially unusable until the usable bitrate on the network improves to the point where live communications cancommence again.

Wired communication networks may also have capacity problems when toomany users are attempting to use the network at the same time or thereare external interferences degrading the performance of the network. Inthese situations, calls are typically dropped and/or no new calls can bemade in order to preserve usable bandwidth for other users. With wiredvoice communication systems, there is also typically no persistentstorage of the voice media of a conversation. As a result, there is noway to transmit voice media from persistent storage at times when theusable bit rate on the wired network connection falls below what isnecessary for maintaining a live conversation.

With most voice mail systems used with mobile or land-line phones, anetwork with sufficient usable bit rate to support a live conversationis needed before the voicemail system can be used. When a person isleaving a voice mail, a live connection is needed before a message canbe left. Alternatively, the recipient must have a live connection beforethe message can be accessed and reviewed. With certain types of moreadvanced email systems, such as Visual voice mail, a recipient maydownload a received message and store it on their mobile phone for laterreview. With Visual voice mail, however, one can review a previouslydownloaded message when disconnected from the network or networkconditions are poor. However, there is no way to generate and transmitmessages when network conditions are inadequate to support a liveconnection. A network connection with a usable bit rate sufficient formaintaining a live conversation is still needed before a message can begenerated and transmitted to another person.

A method and communication device for the graceful degradation ofwireless and wired voice networks, which extend the range and/orcapacity of these networks, is therefore needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A communication device for gracefully extending the range and/orcapacity of voice communication systems is disclosed. The communicationdevice includes a persistent storage device configured persistentlystore the voice media either generated when using the communicationdevice or received over the network at the communication device. Whenthe usable bit rate on the network is poor and below that necessary forconducting a live conversation, the communication device transmits voicemedia from persistent storage and stores received voice media inpersistent storage at the available usable bit rate on the network.Although latency may be introduced during the back and forthtransmissions of a conversation, the persistent storage of bothtransmitted and received media of a conversation provides the ability toextend the useful range of wireless networks beyond what is required forlive conversations. In addition, the capacity and robustness in notbeing affected by external interferences for both wired and wirelesscommunications is improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may best be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, whichillustrate specific embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary wireless communicationsystem of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a diagram of an exemplary wired communication device of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a plot illustrating the graceful degradation of wirelessnetwork services versus range in according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plot illustrating the graceful degradation of networkservices versus capacity according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plot illustrating the graceful degradation of networkservices in the presence of external interference according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a plot illustrating adaptive live optimization for furtherextending the graceful degradation of services according to anotherembodiment of the present invention is shown.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a communication device with persistent storage inaccordance with the present invention.

It should be noted that like reference numbers refer to like elements inthe figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to variousembodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In thefollowing description, specific details are set forth in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent,however, to one skilled in the art, that the invention may be practicedwithout using some of the implementation details set forth herein. Itshould also be understood that well known operations have not beendescribed in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure the invention.

In U.S. application Ser. No. 12/028,400 filed on Feb. 8, 2008, and U.S.application Ser. No. 12/192,890 filed on Aug. 15, 2008, both entitled“Telecommunication and Multimedia Management Method and Apparatus,” animproved voice and other media communication and management system andmethod is disclosed. The system and method provides one or more of thefollowing features and functions: (i) enabling users to participate inmultiple conversation types (MCMS), including live phone calls,conference calls, voice messaging, consecutive (MCMS-C) or simultaneous(MCMS-S) communications; (ii) enabling users to review the messages ofconversations in either a live mode or a time-shifted mode (voicemessaging); (iii) enabling users to seamlessly transition a conversationbetween a synchronous “live” near real-time mode and a time shiftedmode; (iv) enabling users to participate in conversations withoutwaiting for a connection to be established with another participant orthe network. This attribute allows users to begin conversations,participate in conversations, and review previously receivedtime-shifted messages of conversations even when there is no networkavailable, when the network is of poor quality, or other participantsare unavailable; (v) enabling the system to save media payload data atthe sender and, after network transmission, saving the media payloaddata at all receivers; (vi) enabling the system to organize messages bythreading them sequentially into semantically meaningful conversationsin which each message can be identified and tied to a given participantin a given conversation; (vii) enabling users to manage eachconversation with a set of user controlled functions, such as reviewing“live”, pausing or time shifting the conversation until it is convenientto review, replaying in a variety of modes (e.g., playing faster,catching up to live, jump to the head of the conversation) and methodsfor managing conversations (archiving, tagging, searching, andretrieving from archives); (viii) enabling the system to manage andshare presence data with all conversation participants, including onlinestatus, intentions with respect to reviewing any given message in eitherthe live or time-shifted mode, current attention to messages, renderingmethods, and network conditions between the sender and receiver; (iix)enabling users to manage multiple conversations at the same time, whereeither (a) one conversation is current and all others are paused (MCMS);(b) multiple conversations are rendered consecutively (MCMS-C), such asbut not limited to tactical communications; or (c) multipleconversations are active and simultaneously rendered (MCMS-S), such asin a stock exchange or trading floor environment; and (ix) enablingusers to store all conversations, and if desired, persistently archivethem in a tangible medium, providing an asset that can be organized,indexed, searched, transcribed, translated and/or reviewed as needed.For more details on the Telecommunication and Multimedia ManagementMethod and Apparatus, see the above-mentioned U.S. application Ser. Nos.12/028,400 and 12/192,890, both incorporated by reference herein for allpurposes.

The salient feature of the above-described communication system withregard to the graceful degradation of voice communication services isthe persistent storage of the voice media of conversations. As notedabove with prior art or legacy voice wired and wireless communicationsystems, no voice transmissions can take place when the usable bit rateon the network connection is insufficient to support livecommunications. With the persistent storage, however, voicetransmissions may occur from storage. Voice transmissions therefore donot have to occur as the voice media is being generated. Instead, attimes when the usable bit rate is insufficient for live transmissions,the voice media may be transmitted from persistent storage as networkconditions permit. When transmitting from persistent storage, a certainamount of latency may be introduced during the back and forthtransmissions of the conversation. The ability to transmit out ofpersistent storage, however, effectively extends the usability of thenetwork beyond the range and/or capacity where conventional wireless orwired networks would otherwise fail. As a result, communications canstill take place, even when usable bit rate conditions on the networkare poor or constrained beyond where previously no communication couldtake place.

Referring to FIG. 1A, a diagram illustrating an exemplary wireless voicecommunication system of the present invention is shown. The exemplarycommunication system 10 includes a communication network 12 and awireless network 14 for enabling voice communication between a wirelessdevice A within the wireless network 14 and a second communicationdevice B connected to the network 12. A gateway connection 13 connectsthe communication network 12 and the wireless network 14. Thecommunication network 12 may include one or more hops 16 between thewireless network 14 and the second communication device B. Each hopincludes a storage element 18 for the persistent storage of media. Thecommunication device A, which is a wireless device, such as either amobile phone or a radio, connects through a wireless network connectionwith the wireless network 14 through a radio transceiver 20. Thecommunication devices A and B each include a storage element 22 for thepersistent storage of media respectively.

When a conversation takes place between device A and device B, a networkconnection is made between the two devices through the communicationnetwork 12 and the wireless network 14. All voice media of theconversation, regardless if it was transmitted or received, ispersistently stored in the storage elements 22 of devices A and B aswell as in the storage element 18 of each hop on the network 12 betweenthe two devices. For more details on the persistent storage of the mediaat each communication device and on the network, see the above-mentionedU.S. application Ser. Nos. 12/028,400 and 12/192,890, both incorporatedby reference herein.

Referring to FIG. 1B, a diagram illustrating another exemplary voicecommunication system of the present invention is shown. In thisembodiment, both devices A and B are connected to communication network12. In this embodiment, device A is connected to the network 12 througha wired connection 15. When a conversation takes place between device Aand device B, a network connection is established between the twodevices across network 12. One or more hops 16, each with persistentstorage 18, may be required in establishing the network connectionbetween the devices.

It should be noted that the specific network configuration and thecommunication devices illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B are exemplary. Inno way, however, should either particular configuration be construed aslimiting. In various embodiments, networks 12 and 14 can both bewireless, wired, or any combination thereof. Also, either communicationdevice A or device B can each be either wired or wireless devices. Thecommunication devices A and B can also be two nodes in the same wirelessor wired networks or two nodes in different networks. If nodes indifferent networks, the two networks can communicate directly with oneanother, or they may communicate through any number gateways or hops inintermediate wired or wireless communication networks. In addition, thecapability of each communication device to persistently store voicemedia of a conversation may vary. For the sake of simplicity, thenetwork connection illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B is between just twocommunication devices. The present invention, however, may be used withvoice conversations involving any number of wireless or wiredcommunication devices. In the embodiment illustrated in both FIGS. 1Aand 1B, both devices A and B locally and persistently store the media ofthe conversation. Alternatively, device A may locally and persistentlystore media, while device B does not. In yet another embodiment, themedia for either device A or device B can be persistently stored on astorage device 18 of a hop 16 on the network 12 on behalf either deviceA or device B respectively. Regardless of the actual configuration, theonly requirement for implementing the graceful degradation for device Ais at device A and at least one other location, which may be at device Bor at any intermediate hop 16 between the two devices.

FIGS. 2 through 4 illustrate the graceful degradation of services withrespect to range, capacity and external interferences that may affectthe network respectively. It should be understood that the gracefuldegradation of services with respect to range is applicable only towireless networks. The graceful degradation of services with regard tocapacity and external interferences, however, equally applies to bothwired and wireless networks.

Referring to FIG. 2, a plot illustrating the graceful degradation ofwireless services versus range in according to the present invention isillustrated. The diagram plots available usable bit rate on the networkon the vertical axis verses the distance the communication device A isfrom the radio transceiver 20 on the horizontal axis. When thecommunication device A is relatively close, the available usable bitrate on the network is high. But as the communication device A travelsaway from the radio transceiver 20, or enters a region of reduced signalstrength such as a tunnel or canyon, the usable bit rate on the networkconnection is reduced, as represented by the downward slope of theusable bit rate curve on the plot.

As the signal strength decreases, the amount of bit rate lossexperienced on the network connection will also typically increase. At acertain point, a bit rate threshold is exceeded. Below this point, thebit rate loss typically becomes too large to maintain a liveconversation with conventional wireless networks. In other words, thebit rate defines a minimum bit rate throughput sufficient formaintaining near real-time communication.

In one embodiment, the sending device A ascertains when the usable bitrate on the network connection falls below the bit rate threshold by:(i) receiving one or more reports each including a measured transferrate at which bits transmitted over the network connection safely arriveat a recipient over a predetermined period of time; (ii) computing theusable bit rate on the network connection based on the received one ormore reports; and (iii) comparing the computed usable bit rate with thebit rate threshold. The reports are generated by the recipient and sentto device A over the network connection. The receipt reports may includea notation of missing, corrupted or reduced bit rate representations ofvoice media as well as other network parameters such jitter.

In one embodiment, the bit rate throughput threshold is set at eightypercent (80%) of the bit rate throughput needed to transmit and decodethe full bit rate representation of the voice media at the same rate thevoice media was originally encoded. It should be noted that thispercentage may vary and should not be construed as limiting. Thethroughput percentage rate may be higher or lower.

The portion of the usable bit rate curve below the bit rate threshold isdefined as the adaptive transmission range. When the usable bit rate onthe network is in the adaptive transmission range, device A transmitsthe media from persistent storage. As a result, the usable bit ratebelow the threshold becomes usable.

The amount of latency associated with transmission below the throughputthreshold will vary, typically depending on the range between thecommunication device A and the radio transceiver 20. If thecommunication device A is at a range where the bit rate loss is justbelow the threshold, the amount of latency may be inconsequential. Assignal strength decreases, however, latency will typically becomeprogressively greater. As latency increases, the practicality ofconducting a voice conversation in the live or real-time mode decreases.Beyond the point where a live voice conversation is no longer practical,voice communication can still take place, but in a time-shifted mode. Auser may generate a voice message, which is persistently stored. Asusable bit rate conditions on the network permit, transmissions of themedia occur from persistent storage. Alternatively, when receivingmessages, the voice media may trickle in over the network, also asusable bit rate conditions permit. When the quality or completeness ofthe received voice media becomes sufficiently good as transmissions arereceived, they may be retrieved from persistent storage and reviewed orrendered at the receiving communication device. Communication cantherefore still take place when signal strength is poor, due to eitherdevice A being a relatively far distance from a transceiver 20 or in alocation of poor coverage, such as in a tunnel or canyon.

As illustrated in the plot, the available usable bit rate getsprogressively smaller as the range from the radio transceiver 20increases. Eventually the usable bit rate is reduced to nothing, meaningthe communication device A is effectively disconnected from the wirelessnetwork 14. The persistent storage of media on the communication deviceA still allows limited communication capabilities even when disconnectedfrom the network. Messages can be generated and stored on communicationdevice A while disconnected from the network. As the device moves withinthe adaptive transmission range, the usable bit rate range is used forthe transmission of the messages. Alternatively, the user ofcommunication device A may review previously received messages whiledisconnected from the network and receive new messages as usable bitrate on the network permits.

Referring to FIG. 3, a plot illustrating the graceful degradation ofwireless services versus the number of users (i.e., capacity) is shown.As illustrated in the Figure, the available usable bit rate per userincreases as the number of users or capacity decreases and vice-versa.As capacity increases, the usable bit rate decreases. Eventually, thebit rate threshold is crossed. Below this threshold, all users of thenetwork are forced to operate in the adaptive transmission range whensending and receiving voice messages. In an alternative embodiment, onlycertain users may be forced into the adaptive transmission range topreserve the usable bit rate of the system for other users who willcontinue to operate with a usable bit rate above the throughputthreshold. The system may decide which users are provided either full orreduced service based on one or more priority schemes, such differentlevels of subscription services, those first on the network have higherpriority than those that have recently joined the network, or any othermechanism to select certain users over other users.

Referring to FIG. 4, a plot illustrating the graceful degradation ofservices in the presence of an external interference is shown. In thisdiagram, as the severity of the external interference increases, usablebit rate decreases and vice versa. In situations where the availableusable bit rate falls below the bit rate threshold, the user ofcommunication device A may continue communicating in the adaptivetransmission range in the same manner as described above. The use ofpersistent storage of media and the managing of transmissions to meetavailable usable bit rate therefore increases system robustness andgracefully extends the effective range and capacity of services insituations where external interference would otherwise preventcommunication.

Referring to FIG. 5, a plot illustrating adaptive live optimization forfurther extending the graceful degradation of wired and wirelessservices according to another embodiment is shown. In the plot, theusable bit rate curve includes an adaptive optimization threshold andthe bit rate threshold. In the above-mentioned U.S. application Ser.Nos. 12/028,400 and 12/192,890, adaptive live optimization techniquesfor maintaining a conversation in the live or real-time mode when usablebit rate on the network falls below the adaptive optimization thresholdare described. These adaptive live optimization techniques have the neteffect of pushing the bit rate threshold down the usable bit rate curve.In other words, by applying the adaptive live optimization techniques,the amount of available usable bit rate needed on the network forconducting a live conversation is reduced. This is evident in the FIG.5, which shows the bit rate threshold pushed further down the usable bitrate curve relative to the plots illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

With adaptive live optimization, media is sent from the sending device(e.g., device A) to the receiving device in successive transmissionloops. Within each transmission loop, the sending node ascertains if theinstantaneous usable bit rate is sufficient to transmit bothtime-sensitive and the not time sensitive media available fortransmission. If there is sufficient usable bit rate on the network,then both types of media are transmitted. The time sensitive media issent using first packets with a first packetization interval and a firstpayload size at a rate sufficient for a full bit rate representation ofthe media to be reviewed upon receipt by the recipient. The nontime-sensitive media on the other hand is transmitted using secondpackets with a second interval set for network efficiency, where thesecond packet interval is typically larger than the first packetizationinterval.

The time-sensitivity of the media is determined by either a declared orinferred intent of a recipient to review the media immediately uponreceipt. The full bit rate representation of the media is derived fromwhen the media was originally encoded. Typically this means when aperson speaks into their phone or radio, the received analog media isencoded and digitized. This encoded media is referred to herein as thefull bit rate representation of the media. The sending node ascertainsusable bit rate on the network based on receipt reports from thereceiving node. The receipt reports include measured network parameters,such the corrupted or missing packets (i.e., media loss) as well aspossibly other parameters, including jitter for example.

If the usable bit rate is inadequate for transmitting both types ofavailable media, then the sending node ascertains if there is enoughusable bit rate on the network connection for transmitting just thetime-sensitive media. If so, the time-sensitive media is transmitted atthe first packetization interval and first payload size and at the ratesufficient for the full bit rate representation to be reviewed uponreceipt. The transmission of the not time-sensitive media is deferreduntil usable bit rate in excess of what is needed for time-sensitivetransmissions becomes available.

If the usable bit rate on the network connection is not sufficient forsending just the time-sensitive media, then several techniques to reducethe number of bits used to represent the time-sensitive media isapplied. In a first technique, the number of bits included in the firstpayloads is reduced and the reduced payload sized packets are thentransmitted at the first packetization interval. In other words, thenumber of bits used to represent each unit of time (i.e., time-slice) ofvoice media is reduced relative to the full bit rate representation ofthe voice media. The reduction of the bits per payload may beaccomplished by adjusting codec settings, using different codecs,applying a compression algorithm, or any combination thereof.

If there still is not sufficient bandwidth, then the packetizationinterval used to transmit the packets with the reduced bit payloads isprogressively increased. By increasing the packetization interval,latency is introduced. Eventually, if the packetization interval isincreased too much, then it becomes impractical to maintain theconversation in the live or real-time mode.

Lastly, the adaptive live optimization controls the rate of transmittedand received voice transmissions to meet the usable available bit rateon the network connection. As bit rate becomes available, availablevoice media is either sent or received at a rate determined by usablebit rate conditions on the network. Consequently, communication canstill take place. The adaptive live optimization therefore enablesconversations to continue when network conditions would otherwiseprevent live communications.

Referring to FIG. 6, a diagram of device A is illustrated. The device Aincludes an encoder 60 configured to receive analog voice signals from amicrophone 62, the persistent storage device 22, a transmitter 66, areceiver 68, a rendering/control device 70 and a speaker 72. Duringvoice communications, the user of device A will periodically generatevoice media by speaking into the microphone 62. The encoder 60 encodesor digitizes the voice media, generating a full bit rate representationof the voice media, which is persistently stored in device 22. Thetransmitter 66 is responsible for (i) receiving receipt reports from arecipient, (ii) calculating the usable bit rate on the networkconnection, (iii) ascertaining if the usable bit rate exceeds or isbelow the bit rate threshold sufficient for live communication, and (iv)either (a) transmits the full bit rate representation of the voice mediawhen the threshold is exceeded or (b) generates and transmits onlytime-sensitive and/or a reduced bit rate version of the voice media,commensurate with the usable bit rate, when the usable bit rate is lessthan the threshold. Alternatively, the receiver 68 stores the voicemedia received over the network connection in persistent storage device64. When the received media is of sufficient completeness, it may beretrieved from persistent storage by rendering/control device 70 andplayed through speaker 72 for listening or review by the user. Thereview of media may occur in either a near real-time mode or in atime-shifted mode. When in the time-shifted mode, the media is retrievedfrom the persistent storage device 22 and rendered. For more details onthe operation of device A, see the above-mentioned U.S. application Ser.Nos. 12/028,400 and 12/192,890.

A data quality store (DQS) and manager 74 is coupled between thereceiver 68 and the persistent storage device 22. The data quality storeand manager 74 is responsible for noting any missing, corrupted orreduced bit rate versions of the voice media received over the networkconnection in the data quality store. The DQS and manager 74 are alsoresponsible for transmitting requests for retransmission of any voicemedia (or other types of received media) noted in the data qualitystore. When the requested media is received after the request forretransmission is satisfied, the notation corresponding to the media isremoved from the DQS. This process is repeated until a complete copy ofthe media is received and persistently stored, wherein the complete copyis a full bit rate representation of the media as originally encoded bythe originating device. In this manner, both the sending and receivingcommunication devices are able to maintain synchronous copies of thevoice (and other types) of media of a conversation.

In one embodiment of device A, the transmitter 66 may transmit voice orother media directly from encoder 60 in parallel with the persistentstorage in device 22 when the user of the device A is communicating inthe real-time mode. Alternatively, the media can first be written inpersistent storage 22 and then transmitted from storage. With the latterembodiment, any delay associated with the storage occurs so fast that itis typically imperceptible to users and does not interfere or impedewith the real-time communication experience of the user. Similarly,received media can be rendered by device 70 in parallel with persistentstorage or serially after persistent storage when in the real-time mode.

The aforementioned description is described in relation to a wired orwireless communication devices. It should be understood that the sametechniques and principles of the present invention also apply to thehops between a sending and a receiving pair in either a wireless orwired voice network. In the case of a hop 16, voice media is typicallynot generated on these devices. Rather these devices receive voice mediafrom another source, such as a phone, radio or another hop on thenetwork, and are responsible for optionally persistently storing thereceived voice media and forwarding the voice media on to the next hopor the recipient as described above.

It should also be understood that the present invention may be appliedto any voice communication system, including mobile or cellular phonenetworks, police, fire, military taxi, and first responder typecommunication systems, legacy circuit-based networks, VoIP networks, theInternet, or any combination thereof.

Device A may be one of the following: land-line phone, wireless phone,cellular phone, satellite phone, computer, radio, server, satelliteradio, tactical radio or tactical phone The types of media besides voicethat may be generated on device A and transmitted may further includevideo, text, sensor data, position or GPS information, radio signals, ora combination thereof.

The present invention provides a number of advantages. The range ofwireless voice networks is effectively extended as communication maycontinue beyond the throughput threshold. In addition, the presentinvention may increase the number of effective users or capacity thatmay use either a wireless or wired voice communication system. Ratherthan dropping users when system usable bit rate is overwhelmed, thepresent invention may lower the usable bit rate below the throughputthreshold for some or all users until usable bit rate conditionsimprove. Lastly, the present invention increases the robustness of aboth wireless and wired communication system in dealing with externalinterferences.

Although many of the components and processes are described above in thesingular for convenience, it will be appreciated by one of skill in theart that multiple components and repeated processes can also be used topractice the techniques of the system and method described herein.Further, while the invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that changes in the form and details of thedisclosed embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit orscope of the invention. For example, embodiments of the invention may beemployed with a variety of components and should not be restricted tothe ones mentioned above. It is therefore intended that the invention beinterpreted to include all variations and equivalents that fall withinthe true spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A communication device, comprising: a receiver configured to receivevoice media generated while using the communication device, thecommunication device configured to be connected to a network; an encoderconfigured to encode the voice media to generate a full bit raterepresentation of the media generated while using the communicationdevice; a storage device configured to store the full bit raterepresentation of the voice media generated while using thecommunication device and to store voice media received over the networkconnection; a transmitter configured to ascertain if the usable bit rateon the network falls below a bit rate threshold, the bit rate thresholddefining a minimum bit rate throughput sufficient for maintaining nearreal-time communication, the transmitter further configured to transmitthe voice media generated using the communication device from thestorage device when the ascertained usable bit rate is below the bitrate threshold, the voice media being transmitted by the transmitter ata bit rate below the bit rate threshold, thereby effectively extendingthe usable range and/or capacity of the network for voice communicationwhen the ascertained usable bit rate falls below the bit rate threshold;and a rendering device configured to render the voice media stored inthe storage device, the rendering device configured to provide theability to render the voice media received over the network when thevoice media received over the network is of sufficient completeness thatit will be decipherable when rendered.
 2. The communication device ofclaim 1, wherein the transmitter is further configured to ascertain ifthe usable bit rate on the network falls below the bit rate thresholdby: receiving one or more reports each including a measured transferrate at which bits transmitted over the network connection safely arriveat a recipient over a predetermined period of time; computing the usablebit rate on the network based on the received one or more reports; andcomparing the computed usable bit rate with the bit rate threshold. 3.The communication device of claim 1, wherein the minimum bit ratethroughput sufficient for maintaining near real-time communication is atleast 80% of the bit rate throughput needed to transmit and decode thefull bit rate representation of the voice media at the same rate thevoice media was originally encoded.
 4. The communication device of claim1, wherein the transmitter is further configured to: ascertain when theusable bit rate on the network exceeds the bit rate threshold; andtransmit the full bit rate representation of the voice media generatedusing the communication device when the ascertained usable bit rateexceeds the bit rate threshold.
 5. The communication device of claim 4,wherein the transmitter transmits the full bit rate representation ofthe voice media by: (i) defining a transmission loop; (ii) ascertainingthe voice media generated using the communication device available fortransmission in the defined transmission loop; and (iii) transmittingthe full bit rate representation of the available voice media generatedusing the communication device during the transmission loop.
 6. Thecommunication device of claim 5, wherein the transmitter is furtherconfigured to define successive transmission loops and repeat (i)through (iii) for each transmission loop.
 7. The communication device ofclaim 1, wherein the transmitter transmits the voice media generatedwhile using the communication device from storage by varying the amountof latency during the transmission as needed so that the transmissionbit rate substantially meets the usable bit rate on the network when theascertained usable bit rate falls below the bit rate threshold.
 8. Thecommunication device of claim 1, wherein the transmitter transmits thevoice media generated using the communication device from storage by:defining a transmission loop; determining if the ascertained usable bitrate is not sufficient to transmit the available voice media in thedefined transmission loop; ascertaining time-sensitive voice media amongall the available media ready for transmission, the time-sensitivity ofthe voice media being determined by an intent of a recipient to reviewthe voice media upon receipt; and transmitting only the availabletime-sensitive voice media if the ascertained usable bit rate issufficient to transmit only the available time-sensitive voice media. 9.The communication device of claim 8, wherein the transmitter transmitsthe voice media generated using the communication device from storagefurther by: determining if the ascertained usable bit rate is notsufficient to transmit only the available time-sensitive voice media;generating a reduced bit rate representation of the availabletime-sensitive voice media; and transmitting the reduced bit raterepresentation of the available time-sensitive voice media.
 10. Thecommunication device of claim 9, wherein the transmitter is furtherconfigured to generate the reduced bit rate representation by usingfewer bits per unit of time when packetizing the availabletime-sensitive voice media.
 11. The communication device of claim 9,wherein the transmitter is further configured to generate the reducedbit rate representation when packetizing the media for transmission byusing (a) one or more different codec settings, (b) one or moredifferent codecs, (c) a compression algorithm; or (d) any combination of(a) through (c).
 12. The communication device of claim 9, wherein thetransmitter is further configured to generate the reduced bit raterepresentation by increasing the packetization interval used to transmitthe available time-sensitive voice media.
 13. The communication deviceof claim 9, wherein the transmitter is further configured to generatethe reduced bit rate representation by adjusting the transmission rateat which packets containing the available time-sensitive voice media aretransmitted.
 14. The communication device of claim 9, wherein thetransmitter is further configured to generate the reduced bit raterepresentation by performing one or more of the following: (i) usingfewer bits per unit of time when packetizing the reduced bit raterepresentation of the available time-sensitive voice media relative tothe full bit rate representation; (ii) increasing the packetizationinterval when transmitting the available time-sensitive voice media;(iii) adjusting the rate at which packets containing the availabletime-sensitive voice media are transmitted; or (iv) any combination of(i) through (iii).
 15. The communication device of claim 8, wherein thetransmitter is further configured to: define successive transmissionloops; and perform the functions provided in any one of claims 8, 9 and14 as needed for each of the successive transmission loops.
 16. Thecommunication device of claim 1, further comprising a data quality storeconfigured to note any missing, corrupted or reduced bit raterepresentations of the voice media received over the network connectionand a data store management element configured to transmit from thecommunication device over the network connection requests forretransmission of any voice media noted in the data quality store. 17.The communication device of claim 16, wherein the data store managementelement is further configured to remove the notation from the dataquality store as the requests for retransmission are satisfied.
 18. Thecommunication device of claim 1, wherein the storage device and thetransmitter cooperate to effectively extend the usable range of thenetwork when the ascertained usable bit rate falls below the bit ratethreshold to just above the point before the usable bit rate on thenetwork is substantially reduced to nothing.
 19. The communicationdevice of claim 1, wherein the storage device and the transmitterfurther cooperate to: ascertain when the usable bit rate on the networkis substantially reduced to nothing; store voice media generated usingthe communication device when the usable bit rate on the network issubstantially reduced to nothing; delay the transmission of the voicemedia generated using the communication device when the usable bit rateon the network is substantially reduced to nothing; and transmit thevoice media from storage after the delay as the usable bit rate on thenetwork increases.
 20. The communication device of claim 1, furthercomprising a conversation management element configured to define aconversation and to ascertain the voice media generated using thecommunication device and the voice media received over the networkassociated with the conversation.
 21. The communication device of claim1, wherein the storage device is further configured to store the voicemedia generated using the communication device and the voice mediareceived over the network in a time-based format.
 22. The communicationdevice of claim 1, further comprising a rendering control elementconfigured to provide the ability to render the voice media stored inthe storage device in a time-shifted mode by retrieving the media fromthe storage device and rendering the retrieved media on thecommunication device.
 23. The communication device of claim 1, furthercomprising a rendering control element configured to provide the abilityto render the voice media received over the network as it is receivedover the network in a near real-time mode.
 24. The communication deviceof claim 1, wherein the storage device is further configured to store afull bit rate representation of the voice media received over thenetwork at the communication device.
 25. The communication device ofclaim 1, wherein the network is a wireless network and the transmittertransmits the voice media generated using the communication device fromthe storage device at the bit rate below the bit rate threshold, therebyeffectively extending the usable range and/or capacity of the wirelessnetwork.
 26. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the network isa wired network and the transmitter transmits the voice media generatedusing the communication device from storage at the bit rate below thebit rate threshold to effectively extends the usable capacity of thewired network.
 27. The communication device of claim 1, wherein thecommunication device comprises one of the following: land-line phone,wireless phone, cellular phone, satellite phone, computer, radio,server, satellite radio, tactical radio or tactical phone.
 28. Thecommunication device claim 1, wherein the transmitter is furtherconfigured to transmit, in addition to the voice media, one or more ofthe following types of media: video, text, sensor data, position or GPSinformation, radio signals, or a combination thereof.